James j



(No Model.)

v J. J. MULHALL.

RAILWAY RAIL JOINT.

v No.384,061.- I PatentedJ u neBf, 1888.

III I 3 I I l l l I I l I i lhventor:

JAMEsJ. MQLHALL',

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES J. MULHALL, OFYALBAN Y, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO JAMES OHAGAN, JR., OF SAME PLACE.

RAILWAY-RAIL JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 384,061, dated June 5. 1888.

Application filed September 12, 1887. Serial No; 249,432. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES J. MULHALL, of the city and county of Albany, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Railway-Bail Joints, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in joints for connecting together the conjoining ends of track-rails for railways; and the object of my invention is to provide a simple and effective device for that purpose. This object I attain by the means illustratedin the accompanying drawings, which are herein referred to and form part of this specification, and in I5 which- Figure l is a perspective view of my railjoint applied to a track-rail; Fig. 2, a transverse section at the line X X on Fig. 3; Fig. 3, a longitudinal section at the line Y Y on Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a plan View of my joint-piece detached from the track-rails, and Fig. 5 an end elevation of a modified form of my jointpiece.

As represented in the drawings, A indicates the track-rails, B my joint-piece, and C a cross-tie on which the rail-joint is located.

The trackrails A shown in the drawings are of the ordinary form of T-rail; but any other preferred form of track-rail may be used. At each end of every length the head a is cut away to form substantially a right-angle depression whose lower edge will be parallel to the lower side of I the rail, the length of said cut-away portion being equal to one-half of the length of the head I) of the joint-piece, and its depth sufficient to remove the head a and leave the exposed upper edge of the web a. of a uniform thickness with the balance of said Web.

The joint-piece B is preferably a steel casting, and it is provided with a head, I), of sufficient length to fill the space formed by removing the heads from the conjoining ends of the track-rails, the upper part of the head I) being made to conform to the head a of said trackrails. Pendent from and integral with each side of the head I) are side flanges, 1, which are of the same length as said head, and which are spaced apart to form a longitudinal groove that fits snugly over the web a below the space formed by removing the heads of the trackrails. The lower part of the side flanges bears upon the lower flanges of the track-rails, and thereby gives great solidity to the joint. From their point of bearing on the lower flanges of the track-rails said side flanges are deflected laterally, as at 2, to fit over the upper faces of the lower flanges of the track-rails, and are ex-. tended endwise to about twice the length of the head I), so as to produce a long bearing for the joint-piece at the edges of the lower flange of the track-rails. Starting from the edges of the lower flange of the track-rails, said side flanges are extended laterally to form horizontal flanges 3, which bear upon the cross-tie C, 6 upon which the joint-piece B is secured by means of spikes 4 or other suitable fastenings, and when so secured said joint-piece will securely fasten the conjoining ends of the lengths of track-rail in place.

The crosstie C is generally of wood, and is of the kind commonly used in the construction of railways.

In the modification shown in Fig. 5 the joint-piece B has on the underside of itshorizontal flanges 3 pendent lugs b, which pass' through mortises made for that purpose in the crosstie 0. Each of said lugs is provided with a transverse mortise, 5, through which keys 6 are driven to bear against the under side of the cross-tie 0, so as to secure the jointpiece B in place.

I am aware that rail-joints have heretofore been made with heads to fill the space formed by cutting away the heads of the conjoining ends of the track-rails, the said joints being provided with pendent flanges, some of which were expanded endwise and others laterally, but not in both directions; but these earlier joints have been provided with transverse keys or fastening-plates under the conjoining ends of the track-rails. I do not claim such constructions; but

I claim as my invention In a railway-rail joint, the combination of th track-rails having the heads of their conjoining ends cut away, as herein shown and described, and a joint-piece for fastening the ends of said track-rails, said joint-piece comprising a head which fills the space formed I00 by cutting away the conjoining ends of the piece is secured in place, as and for the pun track-rails, side flanges pendent from said pose herein specified. head and of a uniform length with said head until they bear upon the lower flange of the JAMES MULHALL 5 track-rails, and then expanding both endwise Witnesses:

and laterally to form horizontal flanges which WM. H. LOW,

bear upon the cross-tie, and by which the j ointl S. B. BREWER. 

